9th June ’17: The writing on the wall

A Friday ‘hi’ from Colour File HQ ๐Ÿ’‹๐Ÿ‘˜โšก๏ธ๐Ÿ”‹๐Ÿ—ฝ๐Ÿ‘•๐Ÿ‘–๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐ŸŽค
When I was about eight, I was hauled up in front of the headmaster for graffiti-ing in the toilet. How did they know it was me? Simple: I’d written my name. Possibly not the dumbest thing I’ve ever done but it’s definitely right up there. Of course, the world of graffiti is replete with folks putting their names on walls, only they a) spray creative tags (not just ‘Martha’ ๐Ÿค”) and b) do it in the dead of night (or very quickly) to evade the predicament I found myself in. I’ve loved graffiti for a long time. Around 25 years ago, I bought a friend a book about New York subway graffiti. It was stunning – page after page of colourful and unapologetic urban art. Imagine my dismay when I went to New York for the first time in 1994, only to discover that subway graffiti was mostly a thing of the past. I appreciate the ‘broken windows’ theory that correlates graffiti with crime (and therefore the need to reduce graffiti to restore social harmony). But the intrinsic beauty of graffiti will always excite me. I stop to snap it on my local bridge when I go for a run (top right and left) and was thrilled when I found some graffiti by the talentedย @christianguemyย (AKA C215) down a side street in Barcelona on a trip withย @citizenfilmsย (bottom left). Have you seen any good graffiti lately? Hip or hapless (like mine), I’d love to see it. Have a great day.

Martha, The Colour File x

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